User Interface suggestions/issues

[blave549]

I've been keeping notes about some things that I believe could use some attention at some point. Here is my list.

enhancements:

1. Batch Preprocessing Script: add horizontal scrollbar to Target Images area
2. BPP: make default action "Subtraction". I suspect that this is used at least 75% of the time, and I can't tell you how many times I've forgotten to make this setting (but it has been at least three  )
3. Process Explorer: vertical scrollbar -- clicking underneath/above scrollbar should move view to next contiguous view. Currently if you click above/below the scrollbar, the resulting view skips some items from the previous scroll view. You have to click/drag on the scrollbar to see those otherwise skipped items.
4. add ability to drag file(s) to the various dialogs' Target Frames/Images area

consistency:

i. Star Alignment: Add Views uses black "x" selectors, whereas everywhere else I've seen green checks

issues:

a. at some point in my workflow the ability to create a Preview goes away, and the system dings when I try it. It happens sometime during or after doing DBE, and applying a mask in preparation for HDRMT. I have to create a Clone and make Previews of that.
b. GradientMergeMosaic: checkbox column in Target Frames area is not visible on my system, on either my portrait-oriented external display or the laptop's own screen
c. I've been using PI almost daily for the last month or so, and I'm still confused by the view selector thingies at the lower left hand corner of an image view. Sometimes the 2nd one down will change the view to one size, other times to another size (not for the same image though), and I haven't grokked what causes this. I have some images open right now, and Fit View, Zoom To Fit, and Zoom to Optimal Fit all do exactly the same thing for each one.
     c-1. IMO "Zoom to Fit" should zoom the image to the size of the window that I have defined by dragging an edge or corner of the image.
     c-2. Also, I wish there was another selector option that maximizes an image to the entire width of the PI main window, or at least to the vertical orange line.

Thanks for reading...

Dave B.

[pfile]

i would like to add here that something in Qt changed between 1.7 and 1.8 - it used to be that clicking on a slider snapped the slider value to the position you clicked on. in 1.8 it seems that clicking on the slider only moves the control one 'tick' in toward the direction of the mouse click.

it's a whole lot more work to get the slider where you want it with the new behavior.

or, is this configurable somehow?

rob

[blave549]

Bumping this up in the hope of getting some response to at least some of my observations/issues...

thanks,

Dave.

[cfranks]

Another 'add' if I may.  With multiple images open I click on the STF Autostretch  icon on the toolbar to autostretch the selected image.  To get the rest of the images autostretched, I have to manually select 'Image/Screen Transfer  Functions/Copy STF:  To all views in the current workspace'.   It would be nice to  have an Icon for that function.  The current Icon 'Copy STF Functions: Active Window' seems like it should do that but I don't know what is meant by the 'Active Window' .

Thanks
Charles

[Juan Conejero]

1. Batch Preprocessing Script: add horizontal scrollbar to Target Images area

I didn't know that so long file names could even exist I'll try to include this feature in the next version.

2. BPP: make default action "Subtraction".

The default button is "Diagnostics", since both "Run" and "Cancel" would be dangerous as default options. What do you mean by "Subtraction"?

3. Process Explorer: vertical scrollbar -- clicking underneath/above scrollbar should move view to next contiguous view. Currently if you click above/below the scrollbar, the resulting view skips some items from the previous scroll view. You have to click/drag on the scrollbar to see those otherwise skipped items.

I don't see that behavior on Linux, which is what I'm using right now. I have seen it on Mac OS X. What platform are you using? This is probably configurable and platform-dependent; I'll try to investigate it. Anyway you can use the regular navigation keys to move faster / with more precision (up, down, PgUp, PgDn, etc.).

4. add ability to drag file(s) to the various dialogs' Target Frames/Images area

This is already in the to-do list. It will be implemented during the 1.8 cycle.

i. Star Alignment: Add Views uses black "x" selectors, whereas everywhere else I've seen green checks

That's true. I'll fix it.

a. at some point in my workflow the ability to create a Preview goes away, and the system dings when I try it. It happens sometime during or after doing DBE, and applying a mask in preparation for HDRMT. I have to create a Clone and make Previews of that.

I've never seen that on any platform. If that happens consistently, then it is a bug. Can you provide a way to reproduce this problem?

However, you cannot create previews when the current view of the active window is a preview (previews cannot be nested... at least not in the current versions). You have to select a main view to enable the new preview mode.

b. GradientMergeMosaic: checkbox column in Target Frames area is not visible on my system, on either my portrait-oriented external display or the laptop's own screen

Georg?

c. I've been using PI almost daily for the last month or so, and I'm still confused by the view selector thingies at the lower left hand corner of an image view. Sometimes the 2nd one down will change the view to one size, other times to another size (not for the same image though), and I haven't grokked what causes this.

The first button is Fit View. This command constrains the image window to fit the image exactly as it is shown on the screen. It is useful when you have extended the window beyond the image, so some unused working space (in gray color) is shown.

The second button is Zoom to Fit. This command applies the highest zoom ratio that can be used with the image being shown completely on the current workspace.

Third button is Zoom to Optimal Fit. The image is zoomed at the highest ratio that yields reasonable window dimensions. The idea is that window dimensions are calculated adaptively to avoid excessive overlapping of other windows, or overlapping of too many icons on the workspace. For now this function is quite "dummy", but it will be provided with more "intelligence" in future versions. 

The fourth button is Zoom 1:1. It will zoom the image to its actual pixel size without changing window dimensions.

     c-1. IMO "Zoom to Fit" should zoom the image to the size of the window that I have defined by dragging an edge or corner of the image.

I'll think on that.

     c-2. Also, I wish there was another selector option that maximizes an image to the entire width of the PI main window, or at least to the vertical orange line.

Well, you have some window title buttons on the top right corner of each window (top left corner on Mac OS X). There are minimization and maximization buttons, among others. What you describe is just maximization.

Thank you for your suggestions. I hope some of your issues will be solved with my answers. Let me know otherwise.

[Juan Conejero]

Hi Rob,

i would like to add here that something in Qt changed between 1.7 and 1.8 - it used to be that clicking on a slider snapped the slider value to the position you clicked on. in 1.8 it seems that clicking on the slider only moves the control one 'tick' in toward the direction of the mouse click.

Click on the location you want to go on the slider, and wait without releasing the mouse button for a little (just for one second or so). The slider's thumb will go to that location.

[Juan Conejero]

Hi Charles,

I don't know what is meant by the 'Active Window'

The active window is the window that has the keyboard focus. That is, the window that will receive the next keystroke. It is usually the topmost or foreground window in the workspace (although a window can have its "Stay On Top" property enabled, in which case it can be above the active window --- but this is unusual).

To get the rest of the images autostretched, I have to manually select 'Image/Screen Transfer  Functions/Copy STF:  To all views in the current workspace'.

Actually, "Copy STF" commands don't calculate adaptive STFs for each image, which is what you want. They simply copy the STF of the current view to other views.

The AutoSTF script is what you are looking for (Script > Utilities > AutoSTF). I must admit however, that this script needs a lot of refinement. Currently it will compute new STFs for all open windows, and it cannot be interrupted. So be careful if you have a lot of images open, since it may take a while to complete.

[cfranks]

Thanks for the reply Juan.   

Now and again I just need the same, crude, STF applied to all opened images, sometimes > 50 so I can quickly scan for gross errors.  I seem to be under the Flight path to/from Adelaide Airport sometimes and the planes really mess up an image!

Regards,
Charles

[pfile]

Hi Rob,

i would like to add here that something in Qt changed between 1.7 and 1.8 - it used to be that clicking on a slider snapped the slider value to the position you clicked on. in 1.8 it seems that clicking on the slider only moves the control one 'tick' in toward the direction of the mouse click.

Click on the location you want to go on the slider, and wait without releasing the mouse button for a little (just for one second or so). The slider's thumb will go to that location.

okay, i see! never thought to hold the mouse down.

maybe upping the animation speed would be good... it can take 2-3s for the control to make it over to the new position depending on how far away you are from where the control currently is.

rob